Reclamation of real oil refinery effluent as makeup water in cooling towers using ultrafiltration, ion exchange and multioxidant disinfectant

Abstract The refining industry is one of the most water consuming industries. Hence, reclamation of effluents can be useful as a sustainable, permanent, and available source of water for refineries. Therefore, this research was conducted aimed to evaluate the efficiency of integrated processes of ultrafiltration, mixed bed ion exchange and multioxidant disinfectant (MOX) as an advanced treatment of oil refinery effluent in order to provide makeup water in cooling towers. Integrated pilot including polysulfone membrane, two types of strong acid cationic resin and strong base anionic resin were used for real effluent reclamation. Finally, the treated effluent was disinfected using on site generated solution of MOX disinfectant. In the optimum Trans Membrane Pressure of 1 bar, removal efficiency of COD (57%), TDS (80%), Turbidity (94%), SiO2 (67%), Oil (88%), HPC (99%) was achieved. Integrated processes was efficient in reclamation of oily effluents in order to provide makeup water in cooling towers.